Turkish soldiers in military vehicles return from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, as they are pictured on the Turkish-Syrian border in Akcakale, Turkey, October 24, 2019
(Photo: REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir)
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Erdogan said Turkey will resume its offensive if the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia does not withdraw from the border.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that five Turkish soldiers were wounded in the Syrian border town of Ra's al-Ayn in an attack carried out by YPG militants. The attack was conducted using drones, mortars, and light weapons, the Ministry said. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Turkey on Thursday of launching a large land offensive targeting three villages in northeast Syria despite the truce.
On Tuesday, Russia and Turkey signed a joint memorandum agreeing to deploy joint forces in the zone of the Turkish operation in Syria.
Turkey on Thursday rejected a resolution by the European Parliament censuring the Turkish operation in northern Syria.